"I can't say enough about Doyle and Sierocki. They're coaches on the field, and they're such a big help to the guys with less experience," Watkins said.

On offense, veteran linemen Sam Martin at center and Nate Benchley at right guard provide that same type of leadership, Watkins said.

In general, the Dow coach is looking for his team to keep fine-tuning all aspects of its game.

"It's got to come back to the fundamentals," Watkins said. "We're looking for the blocking to improve. We're making sure our assignments are clean on defense."

Dow hosts Heritage next Friday.

Meanwhile, Midland High visits those same Hawks this week, and Chemics coach Eric Methner knows it will be a challenge against a team with two shutout victories and a seven-point loss to Grand Blanc.

"They have explosive playmakers," he said. "They have receivers on both sides (of the quarterback) who are capable of big plays.

"Their quarterback (Keegan Robertson) has a really strong arm. That's going to be a big challenge for our defensive backs. Their QB is also an exceptional runner, so we're not only going to have to put some pressure on him, but also make sure he does not break our contain and make big plays with his running ability."

Methner emphasized the need to prevent big plays, which have fueled the Heritage offense so far.

"We want to make them drive the ball," he said.

The Hawks, under first-year coach Matt Peterson, also have a strong kicker and a defense that tightens up inside the red zone, Methner said.

For the Chemics' part, they're coming off a 35-11 win over Bay City Western which featured the varsity debut of starting quarterback sophomore Al Money. Kadin Jacobs moved from QB to running back and was able to contribute more on special teams and defense.

"Al stepped in and did a nice job for his first game. We think he's going to continue to get better as he gains experience and has more time in practice for us," Methner said of Money.

"We needed a good athlete to play multiple postions and (the change at QB) freed up Kadin," Methner said of Jacobs. "He ran the ball some but also made some great blocks. He also played outside linebacker and on special teams. It allowed us to really utilize his skills -- he's just a really good athlete."

The Midland coach is looking for continued strong defensive play this week.

"We've been playing pretty good defense all year long," he said. "Our kids up front -- Sam HIne and Cam White and Ethan Volmerming and Christian Gordon and Andrew Capua -- they've been playing really good football. We need to continue to do a good job defensively, and we're making some progress offensively."